


The Library

by ReesieReads



Category: Ever After High
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward Conversations, Character Study, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Inner Dialogue, Self-Esteem Issues, Sort Of, apple white is mentioned, darling charming is mentioned, dexter charming was mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:47:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26862373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReesieReads/pseuds/ReesieReads
Summary: He figured asking wouldn’t be awful, he simply wouldn’t flirt with her, how hard could that possibly be? He was Daring Charming, a celebrity, he could do anything he set his mind to. If not-flirting with this (gorgeous) girl was what he wanted to do, then he would do it.It wasn’t hard when she was so mean.
Relationships: Darling Charming/Apple White, Rosabella Beauty/Daring Charming
Kudos: 49





	The Library

**Author's Note:**

> I really love this ship, but there isn't a lot of content on it and I really wanted to add to it. This is a modern au, so no Ever After High or fairy tale destinies or anything. I wanted to really study the characters (mostly Daring) and I felt like a modern au would allow me to do that better.

The library,  _ that's  _ where Daring meets her.

He hadn’t  _ planned  _ to find a date while he was there, no really. After Apple had finally broken their (admittedly loveless) relationship off to be with his sister, Daring had decided to take a break from the dating scene. So he decided to start reading, to ignore the growing turmoil and uncertainty in his mind.

See, Apple and Daring had been together for  _ years.  _ Not because they really liked each other (not romantically anyway) but because their parents had wanted them to. Apple was the daughter of the super rich and famous Snow White, and Daring was the prized son of the famous Charming family, it was  _ perfect.  _

But they didn’t love each other.

They had tried to, for  _ years,  _ but it just wasn’t meant to happen. Apple liked  _ girls,  _ liked  _ Darling,  _ and Daring had only ever seen Apple like a sister anyway. 

Still, it was  _ weird  _ to not be together after so long, to not have to  _ pretend.  _ Daring still wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself without Apple around, and pretending to be charming and vain was exhausting sometimes. He just needed an  _ escape,  _ and reading, he figured, was the perfect way. If he was focused on stories he couldn’t focus on the worry clouding in the back of his mind, the  _ what if’s, the insecurities… _

Then he meets Rosabella.

They don’t run into each other or anything like that, but Daring  _ does  _ go up to talk to her. Not to woo her like most would assume, but because he wanted some book suggestions and she seemed to be the safest bet (if the giant stacks of books surrounding her were any indication). If it just so happens that she was  _ gorgeous  _ what did it matter? Daring wasn’t dating at the moment anyway.

She  _ was _ gorgeous though, with dark brown eyes that shined in the sunlight, with tanned skin and wavy brown hair that was streaked with pink.  _ Nerdy  _ wasn’t usually Daring’s type (though he had been with Apple for so long he hadn’t ever really known what his type was), but something about her was just so  _ intriguing.  _ She was always reading, or writing in her journal, or arguing with someone in the library about little things that Daring didn’t think needed to be argued about.

He hadn’t  _ meant  _ to stalk her, but they both were in the library everyday, and they both sat at the tables across from each other  _ everyday.  _ It wasn’t Daring’s fault that she had caught his attention! He hadn’t planned on talking to her though, he didn’t see the need to bother her when he was trying to distract himself anyway.

_ But he needed a new book. _

Daring had read through the whole fairy tale section already (his family had always liked fairy tales so he figured that was a good place to start), but he had no clue where to go once he had gone through it. There were hundreds of books in the damned library, and he hadn’t exactly been the  _ reading  _ type before now.

He figured asking wouldn’t be awful, he simply  _ wouldn’t  _ flirt with her, how hard could that possibly be? He was  _ Daring Charming _ , a celebrity, he could do anything he set his mind to. If not-flirting with this (gorgeous) girl was what he wanted to do, then he  _ would do it.  _

It wasn’t hard when she was so mean.

Walking up to her, he had plastered on his usual all-teeth smile and asked, “would you mind helping me Miss? I am in dire need of a new book but I just can’t seem to find one!”

And she had the  _ gall  _ to reply with a roll of her eyes and a snide remark of, “you can’t find  _ anything?  _ Did you even look or are you just here to pick up girls?”

Which was both fair, and completely  _ unfair. _

“I’ll have you know,” Daring said, “that I have  _ no  _ intentions of dating you. I simply thought you would be the best one to ask sense you read so much.”

She raised an eyebrow, glancing up at him from behind her dark frames (which was  _ totally  _ cute and  _ totally  _ unfair), “Really?  _ Daring Charming  _ came to the library, to  _ read?”  _

The way she said it made it seem like the most insane thing in the world, and Daring bristled, “I’m not  _ illiterate  _ you know. There's more to me then girls and fame.”

There wasn’t supposed to be, his Father had made that much  _ clear.  _ If the way he treated Dexter wasn’t an indication, then the other  _ loathing  _ he showed when Daring so much as  _ looked  _ at a book was. He was supposed to be the  _ perfect  _ one, the one who was athletic, and good with girls, and got good grades. He wasn’t supposed to be like his brother, who was nerdy and weak and had a taste for bad girls. Nor was he supposed to be like Darling, who was marked a mistake for simply  _ being  _ a girl.

Daring kind of hated his parents when he thought about it too much.

“ _ Forget it”  _ he muttered, before stalking away.

\--

Daring could admit he was being a  _ bit  _ childish.

The girl hadn’t even known him (not personally anyway), how was she supposed to know that he wasn’t some dumb jock? That's all the media painted him as anyway, and most people believed them. In fact, there was  _ no  _ reason for him to be so  _ hurt  _ over something so  _ dumb. _

But he was, and he decided the best way to deal with it was to  _ ignore  _ it.

So he moved tables, re-read the fairy tale books over again, and pretended the girl with glasses and dark eyes didn’t exist. She had clearly wanted nothing to do with him, and Daring didn’t need his place of escape to be  _ ruined  _ with her clear hatred towards him. He couldn’t blame her for her opinions, but he  _ could  _ ignore her because of them.

Apparently she had other ideas.

Daring wasn’t sure if it was because she was guilty (which he assumed was the answer) or if it was for some other reason, but the girl kept  _ following  _ him. He kept finding her in the fairy tale aisle with him, or sitting at the table in front of him no matter how many times he moved. If this had been pre-breakup-with-Apple then he would have been  _ ecstatic  _ to have a girl following him around, but now it was just  _ creepy.  _

One day she came up to his table with a stack of books in her hand. Daring was about to get up and move, but she grabbed his arm and pushed him back into his seat (he would have been surprised at how strong she was, but Darling  _ was  _ his sister). She looked at her feet for a moment before sighing and meeting his eyes, “look, I’m  _ really  _ sorry for being mean. I don’t really have the best experiences with boys, and I just- I’m sorry okay?”

Daring wasn’t sure what to say at first, because an apology had been the  _ last  _ thing he had been expecting. Not only had he felt her comments were justified (and as such no apology was needed), but  _ no one _ apologized to Daring and actually  _ meant it.  _ Even Apple’s apologies were usually half-baked or rushed (though she  _ had  _ been sorry when they broke up). He could tell she was being honest though, it was written all over her face.

“I-uh-I found some books for you,” she stuttered “I was trying to figure out what you liked, but you only went to the fairy tale section so I just grabbed some of my favorite fairy tale retellings from different genres. I figured those might help you dip your toes into the other genres and-”

“Oh,  _ thank you”  _ Daring muttered (which felt  _ weird  _ because Daring  _ never  _ said thank you).

She smiled and adjusted her glasses, “your welcome. I’m Rosabella by the way.”

“Daring,” He said, then chuckled “but you already know that.”

“Yeah,” Rosabella agreed, sitting down across from him, “but It's nice to hear it from you.”

Rosabella, he realized then, was going to be the  _ death  _ of him.

  
  
  



End file.
